[President Richard M. Nixon Welcomes the Apollo 11 Astronauts Aboard Recovery Ship USS Hornet] 1964 - 1974

This NASA photograph captures President Nixon welcoming the Apollo 11 astronauts aboard the USS Hornet. It's the kind of image where the process is the point; it's about documentation, about capturing a moment. The silver of the recovery capsule dominates, its surface reflecting the light, a kind of blank canvas for the real event. You can almost feel the chill of the metal, a stark contrast to the warmth of the human encounter. Nixon, in his gray suit, stands rigidly, a solid block of authority, but look at those astronauts! Their faces, flushed and beaming, tell a different story. The circular seal on the capsule, a symbol of power, is almost comically small in relation to the men's faces. This image makes me think of Warhol, his fascination with celebrity and the flat affect of photographic reproduction. Art, like a space mission, is a collective endeavor, a journey into the unknown.